I would guess that they would choose the Indian - he/she wouldn't be as greedy as the European. So, they would have the same experience/knowledge and a smaller hole in their budget.
Might even come with a sponsorship package from Tata!
I would guess that they would choose the Indian - he/she wouldn't be as greedy as the European. So, they would have the same experience/knowledge and a smaller hole in their budget.
Also what I don't think has been addressed in this thread is the question of why there are very few non-white, non-drivers. With the actual driving of a car, you can see why there may not be so many different ethnicities because of motor racing's background and history, and only over generations will we start to see more ethnically diverse grids. However this should not really apply to engineers, technicians, designers, mechanics etc.
There are plenty of great minds in China and India etc, but when was the last time you saw a good head count of people from those regions? Is it a subconscious thing from within the teams? Is it a language thing? Is it because quite a few teams' workstaff are based in the UK? But then that doesn't account for why there are so few black and ethnic minority British workers at those teams.
I can only really say that it is mostly because of the lack of role-models. It is an unfortunate situation in society - do black kids start running track because they see 7/8 runners in the Olympic final are black? Is it because middle class Britain is predominantly white that we see so many white drivers? Is there some ridiculous undercurrent that has been imprinted in past generations that "white kids are smart, black kids are athletic"? I'm not agreeing with that statement by the way, but as a pointer, take a look at American Football. The quarterback, and most prized, position is probably 85% white at the professional level, yet I'm guessing at least 60-70% of all professional American footballers are black. The quarterback role is considered one that needs high intelligence but not necessarily athletic ability, while most other roles require far greater athleticism.
It's an interesting and controversial subject but one that intrigues me. Sorry if I've gone on a bit of a tangent.
Might even come with a sponsorship package from Tata!
Why has there not been a feature film made about this guy?
http://indianforcef1.blogspot.com/2011/04/force-india-announces-force-india.html
Force India Formula 1 team,today, unveiled its plan to hunt for one in the Billion F1 driver from India. The team announced "Force India Drivers Academy" which is aimed at nurturing Young Indian for the big platform. The program is for 5 years.Both Male & Female in the age between 14-17 years are eligible for the Program.
According to the official website:
The Force India Formula One team Driver Academy is the first phase of a driver talent hunt starting in April 2011 where the aim is to identify talented Indian drivers between the ages of 14 and 17 years and nurture them over a 5 year period with a view to developing indigenous Formula 1 driving talent. The initiative aims to spot talent by conducting karting championships all across the country. The races will be conducted between April and June 2011. The program will be conducted once every 2 years.
Also of interest is that Willy T Ribbs, who drove in the US CART series between 1990 and 1994, tested for Brabham in 1986 and not only has F1 had Jewish drivers there has been a Jewish World Champion. Francois Cevert, Peter Revson and Ian and Jody Scheckter are/were all Jewish.
As said before just because you are black does not entitle you to a free F1 Seat to show "oh yeah we are multi-cultural " just like the Conservatives basically. You need talent in F1 not a dark complexion of your skin.
I know Petrov has an Asian (don't know his nationality) race engineer, and I think Red Bull have a non-white mechanic. Could be a different team, though.
EDIT: just found a picture. Can't embed it because it's on f1.com, but it's picture #62 here: http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2011/858/general/sunday.html
(is there a way to shorten links?)
I found another one in the Monaco gallery. Guess the majority of F1 personnel is white, though.
Why so few female drivers? Always a big question.